As a work machine travels, the tires on the machine generate heat. Excessive heat buildup may cause irreparable damage to the tire. The amount of heat generated is a function of the load being carried by the work machine and the speed that the machine travels. Tire life can be greatly effected by exposure to excessive heat. Tire manufactures follow a formula to rate tires for temperature buildup, it is commonly referred to as “Ton-Miles-Per-Hour”. Ton-miles-per-hour utilizes a product of speed times load of each tire. Exceeding the ton-miles-per-hour rating of a tire dramatically increases the potential for tire failure. The likelihood of damage is increased with each incident exceeding ton-miles-per-hour.
Currently, ton-miles-per-hour is used as a standard indicator of the heat generated in a tire during normal use. Ton-miles-per hour is determined by calculating the average tire load and the average speed of a work machine, and multiplying the two averages to get an “average” ton-miles-per-hour figure. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,044,313, Gannon discloses a system in which ton-miles-per-hour is calculated in real time. After determining that an event has exceeded a ton-miles-per-hour limitation a warning is given. The operator may choose to ignore the warning, which likely results in damage to the tire.
On large mining equipment, tires cost tens of thousand of dollars each. Even though these tires are designed to be recapped after the tread has been worn off, the carcass of a tire that has repeatedly exceeded the ton-miles-per-hour rating, is likely damaged beyond recapping. Unfortunately, damage from exceeding ton-miles per hour rating may not be visible, this may result in recapping a tire that should have been disposed of.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems as set forth above.